CVE-2023-2443 in ThinManager
Summary
by MITRE • 05/11/2023
Rockwell Automation ThinManager product allows the use of medium strength ciphers. If the client requests an insecure cipher, a malicious actor could potentially decrypt traffic sent between the client and server API.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 05/11/2023
The vulnerability identified as CVE-2023-2443 affects Rockwell Automation ThinManager products, which are widely used for remote monitoring and control of industrial systems in manufacturing and process control environments. This weakness resides in the cryptographic implementation of the product's communication protocols, specifically within the cipher suite selection mechanism that governs how data is encrypted during transmission between client and server components. The vulnerability represents a significant concern for industrial control systems where security is paramount due to the critical nature of the operations they support.
The technical flaw stems from the product's acceptance of medium-strength ciphers during the TLS handshake process, which occurs when establishing secure communication channels between ThinManager clients and server API endpoints. When a client initiates a connection and specifies an insecure cipher suite, the system permits the use of these weaker encryption algorithms instead of enforcing strong cryptographic standards. This behavior creates an exploitable condition where malicious actors can manipulate the connection establishment process to force the use of compromised cipher suites, potentially enabling man-in-the-middle attacks and eavesdropping on sensitive industrial communications. The vulnerability falls under CWE-327, which specifically addresses the use of weak cryptographic algorithms, and aligns with ATT&CK technique T1566 for credential access through network sniffing.
The operational impact of this vulnerability extends beyond typical network security concerns due to the industrial control environment where ThinManager systems operate. Attackers who successfully exploit this weakness could potentially intercept and decrypt communications containing sensitive operational data, configuration parameters, or control commands that are critical for maintaining system integrity and operational security. This threat is particularly concerning in environments where industrial systems are connected to enterprise networks, as it could provide attackers with access to information that could be used to plan more sophisticated attacks or to directly manipulate industrial processes. The vulnerability could enable attackers to gain unauthorized access to control systems, potentially leading to production disruptions, safety hazards, or data compromise in critical infrastructure sectors.
Organizations should implement immediate mitigations including configuration changes to enforce the use of strong cryptographic ciphers, disabling support for weak cipher suites, and implementing network monitoring to detect unusual cipher selection patterns during TLS handshakes. The recommended approach involves updating ThinManager configurations to reject insecure cipher suites and enforcing the use of modern cryptographic standards such as TLS 1.3 with strong key exchange algorithms. Security teams should also consider implementing network segmentation to limit the attack surface and deploy intrusion detection systems capable of identifying anomalous cryptographic behavior. Additionally, regular security assessments should be conducted to ensure that all communication channels within industrial control environments maintain appropriate cryptographic strength, as outlined in standards such as NIST SP 800-57 and IEC 62443 for industrial cybersecurity frameworks.